norbold

There was a good one last night, though I can't remember whether it was Nigel or Kelvin who said it, "Greg would love to win the Grand Prix here in Stockholm." Of course, none of the other riders would.......

Crayford. Yes, of course. I'd forgotten them. Parsloes and Bryn will never forgive me!

As some of you may know BBC London Radio is being relaunched on 6 October as Radio London. The station was originally launched in 1970, so during relaunch day they will be taking a look back at life in London in 1970. One of the subjects they will be covering, believe it or not, is speedway. They will be interviewing me so I can tell them about London speedway then. Remember those days? Wimbledon, West Ham, Hackney, Wembley, Romford...... Anyway, if you have any particular memories of London speedway in 1970, it would be good to hear from you, either on this thread or by pm, so I can make it a bit more than just "facts", but add some personal memories as well. I'm not sure what time the speedway bit will be going out, but will let you know as soon as I'm told.

To be fair, they may not have known. He died on Saturday.

I believe he was 83.

Sad news to report, Reg Trott died a couple of days ago. Reg began his speedway career at Wimbledon in 1949, where he stayed for six years before moving on to Oxford and then Norwich, where he stayed for a further eight years. On Norwich's closure, Reg returned to Wimbledon briefly before moving on to West Ham. He retired in 1967, but was enticed back to the second division with Eastbourne, where he stayed until his final retirement in 1972. He then went on to become a referee. Reg was never a top rider, never even a heat leader, but was one of those vital hard working second strings, without whom speedway could not exist. He was always known as a trier and was very popular wherever he went. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him. R.I.P. Reg.

Yes, I'd go along with that. Out of interest, I looked through my 1960 and 1961 programmes (New Cross plus Wembley World Final 1960 and Harringay Internationale Final 1961) and, I have to say, Ove wasn't quite as dominant as I thought. I saw them race eleven times over those two years and Ove won 7-4, though it should also be remembered that New Cross was Briggo's home track in 1960. Thank you, sidney. I was there!

Hmmmm...I must look through my programmes and see how many times I saw Ove "stuff" Briggo.....

Not as good as Ove Fundin though, eh, Sidney?

That may have been Keith Farman, who, as I said above, compiled complete statistics on every race Fundin rode in this country and found that Craven was his greatest rival. If not Keith, it might have been Brian Tungate. I agree with all of that. I think Briggo had a longer career at the very top of speedway than any of the others. By the late 60s and early 70s he was the only one left really still able to mix it with the likes of Mauger and Olsen. I also agree that during the early-mid 50s, Ronnie Moore was the man to beat. But from the Mid 50s to the Mid 60s, Fundin was the master.

Now you're talking, chr! Stan Stevens, my hero. I was there that night as well.

As always, it is a matter of opinion, but, as I have said, quite apart from the records which show Fundin as a more consistently good rider than Briggo, my own observation as both a New Cross supporter and West Ham supporter, the short and the long of it as you might say, definitely biases me towards Fundin. It's not something I can back up with statistics as such, though I suppose I could if I went through all my programmes from that period, but to me, Fundin was simply the greatest and, even in the period of the Big Five, was the dominant rider. I remember him beating Briggo for example fairly easily in the Golden Helmet at New Cross, setting up the track record in the process. And that was Briggo's home track at the time. I mentioned Keith Farman's records above which show that Fundin beat the others of the Big Five more times than they beat him and that it was Peter Craven who had the best record against him, rather than Briggo. Though yes it is true that in the period 1968-1970, Briggo was better than Fundin, but both were probably past their best by then. I think the fact that Fundin actually won the World Title in 1967, when most people thought he was past it and had no chance, also speaks volumes for him. All I can say really is that I was there and I know what I saw and what I thought at the time. The fact that my own memories are backed up by the record books only confirms my view that Fundin was no doubt a better and more consistent rider than Briggo. As far as Briggo's record at West Ham goes, it's not a particular memory of mine that he was unbeatable round there, though I may be wrong. The rider I remember as being unbeatable at Custom House was Bjorn Knutson and then Sverre Harrfeldt.

In the period 1956 - 1964, Ove Fundin came top of the end of year Speedway Star & News rankings 7 times out of 9.The other two years he finished 2nd. Bary Briggs came 1st on two occasions, 2nd once, 3rd twice, 4th twice, 5th once and 6th once. During that same period, Ove Fundin won the world Championship four times, was 2nd three times and 3rd twice. Barry Briggs won three times, was 2nd once, 3rd twice, 4th once, 5th once, 6th once I can't help feeling the raw statistics and records show that Ove Fundin was a better and more consistent rider during that period than Brggo, an observation I would certainly back up with my own first hand knowledge of seeing them both ride from 1960 onwards.

Incidentally, the late great speedway historian, Keith Farman, whose hero was Ove Fundin, did a statistical survey which covered every race that Ove Fundin had ridden in in GB - Test, League, Individual, Match Race, etc. He discovered that Fundin had a better record against every other rider, i.e. he beat every rider more times than any of them beat him. He also found that the rider who beat Fundin most times was Peter Craven.

Well, not only going by their records, but also from personal observation from 1960 onwards, I think Ove Fundin would definitely have beaten Briggo in the four year period 1960-63 and I couldn't really see anyone matching him over 12 rounds. At a time when the Big 5 dominated, I think it is fair to say that, at least in the early 60s, Fundin dominated them. (And I say that as a New Cross supporter, but even though Briggo rode for New Cross, Fundin was clearly the better rider at the Frying Pan and I think beat Briggo every time they met, in matches, individual events and match races.)

A Grand Prix series mid 50s - mid 60s would have been something else! Fundin, Briggs, Moore, Craven and latterly Knutson and Plechanov.....Mind you I can't help thinking Ove Fundin would have won every year!

Impressive in its own right, but don't forget this was at a time when Fundin, Briggs and Moore were at their peak as well plus Craven in the first two years. It is Knutson. His name was spelled Knutsson wrongly when he first came over and wasn't corrected - a bit like Mike Broadbank(s). Sounds good to me.

On a more serious note regarding an all-time non World Champion Ipswich team, we shouldn't forget Peter Moore, Olle Nygren and Split Waterman all rode for Ipswich.

How come all these Ipswich teams have left out Savalas Clouting?

Yes, it is my all-time favourite speedway photo......which is why I use it.

The rider that actually shows up is Billy Lamont. If you click on it to enlarge it, it shows Lamont roaring round the outside of Vic Huxley at Wimbledon.

1. Bluey Wilkinson 2. Bjorn Knutson 3. Peter Collins

That would not surprise me, Split. There is no doubt that Vic Huxley was one of the all-time greats, but sadly mostly forgotten now as his peak period was late 20s to mid 30s.

Just think of all those "Greatest rider never to win a World title" threads in 20 or 30 years time!

Thank you for remembering and posting this, Jim.